6 Steps to Thriving at Work: Step 2

Step 2

No matter your career, you’re probably going to have to learn to deal with people successfully in order to achieve your goals. And interpersonal skills can be among the toughest to master. Even if you’ve successfully negotiated difficult relationships with roommates, friends, and siblings, learning to manage potential interpersonal minefields on the job is an entirely new skill set.

Unlike your family and friends, your office mates don’t have emotional ties to you and therefore don’t have an incentive to accommodate or compromise. Moreover, it’s not always clear who holds the power. In relationships that, according to an organization chart, should consist of equal peers, one person frequently wields more unofficial weight in the company. Other times, bosses behave more like employees. Making your way through these potentially sticky situations requires intelligence, tact, and professionalism.